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No Death Penalty for Pawn Shop Murder Suspect
Prosecutor: There was "no reasonable alternative"
Thursday, May 08, 2008 - 11:04 AM
Prosecutor Bob Ariail says dropping a possible death sentence was the only way to get Roger Shephard extradited from Canada.
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Save This PageGREENVILLE (AP) - A South Carolina prosecutor has agreed to drop any effort to seek a death penalty for a suspect who fled to Canada after the death of a pawn shop owner in Easley.
Prosecutor Bob Ariail told The Greenville News on Wednesday there was "no reasonable alternative" in the case against 23-year-old Roger Eugene Shephard of Williamston.
Shephard is accused in the June 2006 death of 65-year-old John Bruin.
Ariail says dropping a possible death sentence was the only way to get Shephard extradited from Canada.
Canadian authorities handed over Shephard to U.S. marshals at Champlain N.Y. on Tuesday after a two-year legal battle. Shephard on Wednesday agreed not to fight extradition from New York.
Shephard had been detained in Montreal within days of Bruin's death.
Information from: The Greenville News
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)